Conventional inkjet print cartridges, or pens, include a printhead assembly and ink supply assembly integrated within a monolithic housing that simplifies the replacement of ink supplies for inkjet printers. The printhead assembly supports a printhead die adhered to a carrier substrate, or chiclet. Thus, the chiclet serves as a printhead die support platform as well as a fluid distribution manifold to distribute ink from the ink supply assembly to ink feed slots in the die. In general, the chiclet is adhered to a base component, which in turn, is adhered to a housing of the ink supply assembly. Because the chiclet serves as a support platform for the printhead die, it is important that the surface planarity at the top of the chiclet with respect to the planarity of the base is maintained. However, the chiclet, the base, and other assembly components, each have six degrees of freedom in free space, which presents a significant challenge when trying to properly align and adhere these components to one another during fabrication. In addition, the chiclet and base are typically made of different plastic materials that have different coefficients of thermal expansion. Therefore, thermal excursions encountered during fabrication, testing, and shipping, create stresses between the chiclet and base that in turn can stress and fracture the printhead die adhered to the chiclet.